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ADDRESS AT H0MB0URG-LES-BAIN8, 



UY TIIK 



BISHOP OF CALIFOKMA. 



Vl) DIVES 8 



DKLhKliKli AT linMI'.dliKi - LKS - I;AL\.S, 

GERMANY, 

ON THE FIRST DAY OF JUNE, 18G.5, 

BEING THK DAY APPOINTED BY 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AS A. D ^\ ^' OP' H U M 1 L I >V T I O jV A IST T) P R A. Y P: R ; 



HDJIIT KEY. WM. IN(iRAll.VM KIP, D. D. 

BISHOP OF CALIFORNIA. 



FKAXKFOKT-()N-TiiF.-MAlX. 

1805. 



^4 51 



C. Naumann's Druckcrei. Frankfort- on - the - Main. 



isr o T I a E 



1 hu lirst day of June haviiif^ been ajipoiiitod by the President of 
the United ytutes, as u day of Humiliation and Prayer, arrangements were 
made, throu«jh the instrumentality of the II'" Wl" W. Ml'KlMlY, Consul 
General of the United States at FitANKFoRT o> the main, to oberve the 
day at llombourg-les-Uains, where a number of Americans are residing 
for the summer. 

The Morning Service of the Church, with appropriate additional 
prayers, was read by the Bishop of California, the Lessons being read 
by the H*'^ D" Butler, p^nglish Chaplain at Ilombourg. The Service was 
held in the Chapel attached to the Palace of the Sovereign Landgrave of 
Hesse -Hombourg, the use of which had been kindly granted. 

The following Address, hastily written for the occassion, was then 
delivered, and is now published by request of the congregation present, 
conveyed to the Author in the following notes. 

2'o the ]h'(/ht litcereud 

the Bishop of Cdlifurnia. 

HOMBOURG - LES - BAINS. 
June 2ci, 1865. 

The undersigned, a Committee of Citizens of the United States so- 
journing in Frankfort and Hombourg, who heard with so much pleasure 
your excellent discourse delivered at the State Church in the city of Hom- 
bourg -les- Bains, on the day appointed by His Excellency, the President 
of the United States, as a day of Humiliation and Prayer, respectfully 
request you to favor us with a copy of the same for publication. 

Very respectfully 

Your obed' Servants 

WilliaV) ir. M/O-Jj/n/, V. S. Consul (Jeneral. 
//. .1/. Walls, Philadelphia. 

II . //. (irntlan , San Franciscor 
(/'. J. JUirlcnall, Xew-York 
Max II. Becker^ Chicago, 111. 
Julius Mo/ir_, Frankfort "/M. 



We the Undersigned , British subjects , having been present on the 
occasion, referred to, heartily unite in the foregoing request. 

J. C. Floods M. A., British Chaplain at 
Frankfort o/M. 

Henry Watson, Rector of Langton, Lin- 
colnshire. 

James Butler^ British Chaplain, Ilesse- 
Hombourg. 

Willimn Lewis, M. D,, Resident English 
Physician , Hombourg. 



A 1) 1) U K S S. 



>> (• liavc ^atliorod tlii.s inorniiii;', iiiv iirrtlircii . in tliis 
distant land, in ultcdioncc ti> tli(^ Proclaniatiun of the head of 
our nation, to reoogni/e this day as one of liiiniiliation and 
prayer for the sins (tf our eountiv. „ Whereas" — savs that 
doeuinent — ,,our country has become one j^reat house of 
.mourning-, where the liead of the family has been taken away, 
and believing- that a special period should be assigned for again 
humbling ourselves before Alnnghty God, in order that the 
bereavement may be sanctified to the nation, I reconnnend to 
my fellow citizens, on Thursdav, the first day of June, to 
assemble in their respective places of worship, there to unite 
in solemn service to Almighty God in memory of the good 
man who has been removed, so that all shall be occu]tied at 
the same time, in contemplation of his virtues and sorrow t'oi- 
his sudden and violent end." 

That vi)iee comes to us over the wiile ocean and we bow 
to it from that principle of loyalty which should always charac- 
terize the Christian. It matti-i-s not to us, in whose hands that 
authority is placed. It is sufficient that he who weilds it is 
the recognized head of the nation to which we belong. To it 
we owe allegiance and its injunctions should be heeded, even 
in this far ott' land where we are strangers and sojtturners. 

The question is naturally suggested to us by these remarks, 
as well as by the services of this day. — What is lovalty? 
W hat is the obedience we tiwe to the government under which 
we live? lias each individual, or each sectitm of countrv, a 
right to throw ofi' allegiance at j)leasure? The political answer 
to this would be: — If so. what becomes of nationalitvV A 
nation, on tiiis theory, is l)Ut a rope of sand, liable at any 
moment to crumble into separate atoms and tiio promises of a. 



government are the pledges of an institution which to-morrow- 
may have no existence. 

But I turn from this to the religious vievv^ of the question, 
as best befitting this place and time. What then is loyalty 
as laid dow^n in the Word of God? That volume expressly 
says: „The powers that be are ordained of God; whosoever 
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." 
And this was well illustrated and enforced by the conduct of 
the Early Cliristians. In that day, when our faith was new 
in the world and its follow^ers were covmted „the offscouring 
of all things," the hand of oppression rested heavily upon them. 
„They had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, mo- 
reover of bonds and imprisonment," and might at any moment 
be called to receive the crown of martyrdom. And this perse- 
cuting power was weilded by the government of the land. 
At Rome, it willingly responded to that oft heard cry of the 
populace — that cry, in which alone Jew and Greek, Roman 
and Egyptian could unite, - — ■ „To the lions with the Chris- 
tians ! " 

And how did they receive it? S'. Paul does not say to 
his followers, — „ Rouse yourselves against this oppression: 
strike a blow for your rights and liberties!" But, on the 
contrary, he tells them — „ Submit yourselves to every ordi- 
nance of man for the Lord's sake; whether it be to Kings as 
supreme ; or unto governors , as unto them that are sent by 
him." He advocated no sudden and violent convulsions, but 
trusted to the gradual yet sure influence of Christian principles, 
to bring all things into conformity with right. Even in the 
third century, when, in the consciousness of their po\ver, one 
of the early apologists for the faith says — ,,We fill the 
court, the camps and the cities" — they still remained ,, sub- 
ject for conscience sake." *) 

And who at that time was head of the Roman Empire? 
Nero Avas on the throne, — a monster in human form and 
stained Avith the blood of his own nearest relatives: He it was 
who was the bitter persecutor of the Christians. For him cer- 

*) Rom. XIII. 5. 



tainly tlio Apostlo could have had no reverence. Yet what 
does lie say? Why, he inculcates loyalty to the Emperor. 
Wis unequivocal language is — „ Honor the King." Such was 
the lesson taught hy the Aj)ostU^s to the infant Church, and 
so it always has hvvn. Tluis was hivaltv wr(»u<rht into the 
very fai)iic of our religion. Kcbellion against the justly con- 
stitntt'(l auth(»rit.v of the land is as much a violation of reli- 
gious dutv, as it is a crime against tlic civil law. 

It is a disregard of this principle of religion whieh has for 
years past deluged our countrv with bktod — made often „a 
man's foes thev of his own hons(»hold," — and sjiread sorrow 
tlirough every family circle. In our fancied security we were 
suddenly startled by the outbreak of a convulsion, — unlocked 
for and unoxpocted, — excited by no oppression — and which 
struck a Mow at the very existence of the government. As 
we now look back upon the contest, its history is like the 
„roll of the book" seen in vision by the prophet Ezekiel, 
„written within and without with lamentation and mourning 
and woe." 

But yet, everything in the restrospect is not sorrowful. 
Not luimingled with light have been the dark scenes through 
which we have passed. There have been visible blessings uni- 
ted with the judgments we have experienced. There are worse 
evils, Brethren, than war — even than a civil war. National 
degeneracy is ^yorse, where a people sink lower and lower 
each year, and high toned honor is forgotten and every noble 
impulse is lost in the strife of money getting. And so it was 
too much with us. Many years of peace and prosperity had 
materialised the minds of our people and they were growing 
more and more /,of the earth, earthy." They were caring 
only for the physical things of life — for getting gain and 
,,a<ldins: house to house and Held to Held." 

riwMi, this storm burst upon us and awakened our people 
to n»\v and unai-customed impulses. It developed the dormant 
patriotism of the masses. Selfdenial and selfsncriHce for coun- 
try's sake became living things, and they who devoted to this 
cause those nearest and dearest to them and saw them go 
down, one by one, upon the Itattle Held, were taken out ot 



tlieir own narrow interests and learned tliat the love of coun- 
try is a vital principle and patriotism something more than a 
mere name. And they wdio „perilled their lives unto the 
death in the high places of the field" were actuated by higher 
impulses than those arising from „the greed of gold." The 
whole tone of the nation has thus been elevated and ennobled 
by the fiery trial through which it passed. The solemn sacri- 
fice offered on the altar of patriot duty brought down its bles- 
sing, and what was sown in tears upon the battle field will 
one day be reaped in joy in the harvest of loftier principles 
than of old. The blow which fell upon us realized what the 
superstition of the ancients ascribed to lightning, — consecrat- 
ing what it scathed. 

We cannot therefore ask in despondency, as we look at 
the thousands wdio died on the battle field — „ Wherefore is 
this waste?" We feel that not in vain was this blood poured 
forth — that it was ennobling millions who know not perhaps 
those who thus consecrated themselves to death , — that it was 
winning for them a heritage which many coming generations 
may enjoy. It is thus by private sorrow that the public weal 
is always worked out, and when Leonidas died at Thermopylae, 
and by his very fall taught a lesson of selfconsecrating patrio- 
tism which fired the hearts of his countrymen, no one who ever 
read the story on the page of history, characterized his loss of 
life as „ waste," or thought that useless was the sacrifice offered. 

But beyond this mere elevation of national character, there 
are tangible and evident benefits resulting from this fearful 
strife. It swept away for ever that curse of slavery which had 
been eating like a canker into the heart of the land and had 
become an evil, so vast in its proportions that the wisest saw 
not how to grapple with it. It settled questions of great poli- 
tical moment, which for eighty years had distracted the councils 
of our nation, Idotting out in blood views and theories which 
militated against tlie very frame w^ork of our Constitution. Yet 
though the price paid was great, it purchased an abiding peace 
for the future. It created a feeling of nationality such as 
never before existed, and our country commences a new 
career, sanctified by its baptism of blood. 



Has not this conflict then been Letter, — aye, xvill not 
even they say so, who in their own sufferings have i.:.i<l part 
of tlie price — has it not been better than the prosperous and 
unbroken peace in which national character and national prin- 
ciplcs sink surely down into de-eneracy? Most nations which 
have disappcarx^d fron, the pa-e of history have been enervated 
and ruinc.l bv prusperitv. Babylon expired amid the revelry 
of a banquet,' and it was not on tiic battle Held, but amid the 
luxury of Capua, that the p'cat rival of Rome received its 
death blow. Said wc not truly then, that there are sorer evils 

than those of war? 

Yet wc trust that the cl.u.ds have now passed away and 
the sunlight once more returned. Wc trust that peace will 
a-nin spread her benign influence over the land and men „beat 
their swords into ploughshares." Why then, in tins iiour of 
seeming triumph, should we be called to humiliation? Why 
should not tiiis dav be one of thanksgiving and our utterances 
be those of unmingled rejoicing? This, Brethren, would be 
but an earthly view. On the contrary, it is meet and proper, 
that now, at' the end of an embittered contest of years, we 
should, as a nation, prostrate ourselves before God in sorrow 
and contrition. When, with His ancient people, the land had 
been deHled with blood, the priest was commanded to offer a 
sacriHce and make atonement for the sins which liad brought 
that judgment upon them. How great the need then that we 
.hould do so, wlien the blood of our noblest and best has 
been so freely poured forth for years - when brother has 
been arraved in deadly strife against brother - and it has 
been, in the words of the prophet, „a day of trouble, of re- 
buke and blasphemy!" How many and grievous must have 
been the sins which' the evil passions of men iiave called forth 
in this unhappy contest! 

And more' than all - how deep the stain resting on us, 
from that last sad tragedy, when our Chief Magistrate was 
stricken down by the hand of an assassin, and tlie sympathy 
of every Christian nation was awakened! It was a crime 
winch w.. thought belonged only to the past — to the Dark 
\.rcs — to the old Republics of Italy and the days- of the 



^0 

Borgias. It was too, selecting as a victim, one whose leading 
trait was an exceeding kindness of heart, — who looked upon 
those so fiercely warring against his authority, as erring children 
to be won back and pardoned, — and who, through all this 
embittered contest, uttered no word of severity and left behind 
him no written sentence of harshness against those who were 
heaping their insults upon him. Yet this could not shield him 
and the hand of fanaticism has thus singled out for destruction 
him, who least of any high in office would naturally have 
awakened such vindictive feelings. But this too is recorded 
against us, and the whole world is startled by a crime, so 
unlocked for — so out of harmony with all that is expected 
in this age. How much reason have we then for humiliation! 
How should we cry, — „Spare us, O Lord! spare Thy people 
and visit us not too heavily for our sins! When Thou makest 
inquisition for blood, lay not to our charge the shedding of 
that which has defiled our land neither require it at our hands ! " 
But with sorrow for the past, we have also a duty for 
the future. If it please God that now this unhappy strife 
should end and we again stand before the world as one unitied 
people — the effort must be, to forget the bitterness of the 
past and restore that union of feeling which existed „in our 
fathers' days and in the old time before them." The physical 
features of the land will soon resume their old appearance. 
The desolated towns will be rebuilt, — trade will flow back 
into its accustomed channels, — nature will heal the scars 
upon its surface, where the iron heel of war has trodden, — 
and harvests will soon wave in cheerfulness over the battle 
field and the spot where thousands are lying in their bloody 
graves. Let us too strive to heal the wounds which have been 
inflicted and by the absence of all unseemly show of triumph 
— by kindness and forbearance — send balm to the hearts of 
those who now are suff"ering and depressed. Then we shall 
have learned the lesson which the services of this day should 
teach us and it will not have been in vain that we have come 
togctlier to God's House this morning. 



11 



S1>E( lAL 11{AVi;U 

USED IN THE SERVICE 



Jlost merciful Guil! XNc hoscccli Tlicc to hear our prayers 
ami to spare those who confess their sins to Thee. When Thou 
niakest inquisition for blood, lay not to our charge the shed- 
ding of that which has dcHlcd our land and may it not be 
required at our hands. 

Thou oidy niakest men to be of one mind and t6 dwell 
together in unity. — Assuage we beseech Thee the bitterness 
and strifes which have arisen in our land. — Soften the ani- 
mosities which have been created and grant that those who 
dwell side by side may again live as brethren. Ileal the 
wounds which this contest has made. — Send Thy grace to 
strengthen the bereaved, the impoverished, and the suffering, 
and grant that in this day of their sorrow they may be up- 
held by Thy Almighty Power. May peace and prosperity once 
more be our lot and we learn to recognize Thy hand and 
adore Tliee as the Giver of every good and" perfect gift. All 
of which wo ask through the merits and mediation of Thy Son 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

A MEN 



♦ <Cv» 



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_B S '12 






